Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development Case study in Knuckles Mountain Forest in Sri Lanka

Eco-tourism has become an important economic activity and it providesopportunities for visitors to experience powerful manifestations of nature, culture and tolearn about the importance of biodiversity conservation. Ecological-based tourism couldbenefit the community and environment in a sustainable and community-friendlymanner. Knuckles mountain range, which is blended with natural and cultural resources,is considered as an attractive ecotourism destination place in Sri Lanka. The objectivesof this study were to identify existing eco-tourism activities in the region and introducethe eco-tourism for the sustainability of the Knuckles forest and the peripheralcommunity. Data was collected using a field survey, participatory rural appraisal andinformal meetings with stakeholders and publish materials. Field survey was conductedwithin two village clusters namely Meemure and Reveston. Five villagers were selectedfrom one cluster and 10 households were selected from each village.Research findings show that the lack of awareness and lack of availability ofproper information are the most common causes for the less tourist arrival to this area.The majority of the visitors are local tourists who come in small groups. These visitorsexpect improvement of infrastructure and strengthening of the institutional capacity toenable the environment of local people to interpret the ecological and social heritage.Based on the findings of the study the most important issues that should be taken intoconsideration in promoting tourism in Knuckles are: strengthening the institutionalcapacities of relevant stakeholders, developments of infrastructure in the area, publicizeKnuckles range in the media, encourage villagers to participate in eco-tourism activities.This alternative benefit will help to the peripheral community to sustain theirlivelihoods, forest resource management and help social, economic and environmentsustainability in the Knuckles area.Key words: Eco-tourism and sustainable development, Community development,Sustainable forest managemen

Diatom frustules enhancing the efficiency of gel polymer electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cells with multilayer photoelectrodes

The incorporation of nanostructures that improve light scattering and dye adsorption has been suggested for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but the manufacture of photonic and nanostructured materials with the desired properties is not an easy task. In nature, however, the process of light-harvesting for photosynthesis has, in some cases, evolved structures with remarkable wavelength-sensitive light-trapping properties. The present work is focused on enhancing the efficiency of quasi solid-state DSSCs by capitalizing on the light trapping properties of diatom frustules since they provide complex 3-dimensional structures for scattering and trapping light. This study reports a promising approach to prepare TiO2 nanocrystal (14 nm) based photo-electrodes by utilizing the waveguiding and photon localization effects of nanostructured diatom frustules for enhancing light harvesting without deteriorating the electron conduction. Single and double-layered photo-electrodes were prepared with different frustule/nanocrystal combinations and conformations on transparent conductive oxide substrates. This study clearly reports impressive efficiency and short circuit current density enhancements of about 35% and 39%, respectively, due to the incorporation of diatom frustules extracted from a ubiquitous species. The SEM images obtained in this work reveal that the produced thin films had a remarkable surface coverage of evenly distributed frustules within the TiO2 nanoparticle layer. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the first quasi solid-state DSSC based on a photo-electrode with incorporated bio-formed nanostructures

SUSTAINABLE & ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY APPROACH FOR RURAL ROAD DEVELOPMENT

Transport infrastructure improvements in rural sector provide greateropportunity to access economic, social & education facilities. This issue isvery crucial since it covers fundamental aspects of rural revitalization. Thelack of acceptable transport infrastructure has led to the isolation of ruralareas. Roads that do not belong to the National & Provincial road network arethe secondary & tertiary road links that provide main access to most ruralpopulation in the country.Situation in the local government setup is different from the national setup.Even though over 70,000 km of roads belong to local government authorities,budgetary allocation for road works is very minimal. Most of theseunclassified roads are low volume earth or gravel roads and carry less than150 vehicles per day out of which more than 85% are light vehicles such asbicycles, motor bicycles or three wheelers.Local government authorities tend to allocate available funding to upgradefew gravel or earth roads to paved condition or to rehabilitate dilapidatedpaved roads arbitrary. As no funding mechanism for regular roadmaintenance is available these low volume roads get deteriorated not due tovehicle loading but due to environmental conditions. This arbitrary upgradingstrategy used by local government authorities result in waste of resourceswith not much benefit to rural communities.This paper attempts to identify sustainable & environment friendly strategiesto upgrade and maintain low volume local roads at a satisfactory conditionfor a longer period. Use of appropriate geometric standards, selection of costeffective construction standards that satisfy the access & mobility needs ofrural population is discussed. Use of locally available material, labour andequipment that provides environment friendly solution are compared &presented

Conductance-Based Profiling of Nanopores: Accommodating Fabrication Irregularities

Solid-state nanopores are nanoscale channels through otherwise impermeable membranes. Single molecules or particles can be passed through electrolyte-filled nanopores by, e.g. electrophoresis, and then detected through the resulting physical displacement of ions within the nanopore. Nanopore size, shape, and surface chemistry must be carefully controlled, and on extremely challengingwork, confirmed the suitability of the basic conductance equation using the results of a time-dependent experimental conductance measurement during nanopore fabrication by Yanagi et al., and then deliberately relaxed the model constraints to allow for (1) the presence of defects; and (2) the formation of two small pores instead of one larger one. Our simulations demonstrated that the time-dependent conductance formalism supports the detection and characterization of defects, as well as the determination of pore number, but with implementation performance depending on the measurement context and results. In some cases, the ability to discriminate numerically between the correct and incorrect nanopore profiles was slight, but with accompanying differences in candidate nanopore dimensions that could yield to post-fabrication conductance profiling, or be used as convenient uncertainty bounds. Time-dependent nanopore conductance thus offers insight into nanopore structure and function, even in the presence of fabrication defects

CONSTRUCTION OF A PRECISE GROWTH MODEL TO PREDICT THE NDIVIDUAL STEM VOLUME OF Alstonia macrophylla WALL. EX G. DON

In order to reduce the pressure on existing Natural Forests in Sri Lanka,Forest Department promoted growing timber species as plantations and inhome gardens. Among the suggested species Alstonia macrophylla(Hawarinuga) has recently become popular due to its fast growth rate, ease ofestablishment and timber value. There are about 1913 ha extent of Alstoniamacrophylla plantations at the end of the year 1998 maintained by the ForestDepartment of Sri Lanka. However, this figure must be higher than thatbecause many other private organizations are establishing Alstoniamacrophylla plantations in the wet zone in large scale. This species is alsogrown in home gardens, alleys and borders as non-blocks (non-plantations).However, at present there is no method at present for estimating the stemvolume of this species, which is considered as the most important variable incommercial forestry. Therefore a mathematical model was constructed in thisstudy to predict the individual stem volume of Alstonia macrophylla treesgrown in plantations.Since Alstonia macrophylla is widely found in wet zone of Sri Lanka, studysites were selected from Galle (two even-aged plantations from Pituwala andWattehena Beats) districts. The ages of these plantations were 19 and 16respectively. Ten 0.02 ha circular plots with slope correction were randomlylaid out for each plantation, in order to measure the necessary parametersfrom the individual trees. Diameter at breast height (dbh), total height andheight to the crown base of all the trees inside the plots were measured.Newton's formula was used in this research because it is the most accuratemethod. In order to calculate the volume using the Newton's formula, thestem of each tree was hypothetically divided into 4 -5 sections. Then thebottom, mid and top diameters and section lengths were measured usingSpeigal Relascope and Blume Leiss Altimeter respectively. The final sectionof the tree was assumed as a cone and only the bottom diameter and heightwere used in that particular section. The total volume of each section wasestimated by adding the section volumes calculated using Newton's formulato the volume of the final section.First a theoretical model structure was developed using the relationship ofform factor with volume, height and area at the base. Regression analysis wasused to fit the data into the model. Untransformed as well as transformedcombinations of all variables were tested. In this procedure the combinedvariable (basal area * tree height) was always kept as the first explanatoryvariable. After trying with many combinations of selected variables withvolume, final model was selected using its compatibility with the real world,R2 values, and residual distributions, model bias value and modelingefficiency. The selected models at the preliminary stage indicated very highperformance and insignificant bias. In order to select a final one, the abovemodels were validated with a new set of data. The final selected model in thisstudy to predict the individual stem volume with insignificant bias ofAlstonia macrophylla is; --.jv= 0.659 log BA *Ht + 0.00404 ...fer h

Impact assessment and adaptation to climate change of plantations in Sri Lanka

This report documents the work undertaken by the IRI, FECT, NRMS and University of Peradeniya as part of the overall project. Separate reports were prepared by the Tea Research Institute, Coconut Research Institute and the Department of Meteorology in Sri Lanka. The work at IRI, FECT and NRMS has proceeded satisfactorily. The work was in the domain of climate and climate change, crop-climate impact analysis and contributions to synthesis. We have contributed significantly in terms of research output and in capacity building, which were the goals of the AIACC project